--H.L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
Posted on 04/23/2012 9:16:12 PM PDT by Perseverando
A firearms safety course went awry in Bedford County (VA) Saturday when a man shot himself in the hand with a .45-caliber handgun and the bullet passed through his hand and struck his wife, seated nearby, in the leg.
Shot were Michael L. Deel, 54, and Michelle K. Deel, 49, both of Roanoke. Emergency dispatchers in Bedford County received a call at 12:25 p.m. reporting a shooting on Chapel Woods Drive. The Bedford County Sheriff’s Office said county rescue units and deputies responded.
The Deels were attending a firearms safety class being taught and hosted by Thomas F. Starke, 57, according to the department.
The sheriff’s office said Starke told deputies that he had left the room, heard a shot and returned to find the Deels had been shot.
The couple was taken by ambulance to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
The shooting remains under investigation.
You know the adage “You’re not a real biker, until you crash once?”
Well...
Man Mistakes his Girlfriend for a Hog, Accidentally Shoots Her
It may be your right, but you are the wrong kind to own the gun, son.
“Oops! Sorry dear.” If I were him and didn’t have a nice comfortable couch - I’d go out and buy one ... ;-)”
--H.L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
I cannot be discounted that he only thought the hog was his girlfriend.
Only when the classroom training was complete, and the students were properly trained in safety and firearm handling, did the participants move to a firing range.
The people running this class don't know what they are doing.
Glock racing stripes...
That there's whatcha call a two-fer.
Think Mr. Thomas F. Starke should review his teaching lessons, I mean really, really review them, particularly the part about loaded pistols in class with people who need a gun safety class.
I never chamber a round unless I am preparing to shoot. Every LE type has an inadvertant discharge tale to tell. Too much can go wrong.
He violated the very first rule of gun safety -
Always treat a gun as if it is loaded even if you think it isn’t.
[Note to those not acquainted with the M1911: this pistol has four safety devices: (1) Thumb Safety — locks trigger, hammer, and slide when applied; (2) Grip Safety — prevents firing if the pistol is not firmly gripped by the hand; (3) Half Cock Safety — prevents firing if the hammer slips while being lowered on a live round; (4) Disconnector Safety — prevents firing if the slide is not fully forward and locked. Item (3) is not a safe carry safety and item (4) is a mechanical check done during maintenance, but does not affect carry of the pistol.]
Nice sentiment, but if this happened, someone wasn’t paying attention to the part about pointing in a safe direction, and treating every gun like it is loaded. I get nervous anytime i see people swinging barrels around, and will excuse myself from such gatherings.
Firearms instructor Starke went stark raving mad when da shooting started.
True, in 1967 I was in the ER of a rural hospital for shooting myself in the leg. The county sheriff took the report and was berating me about safety training, when his deputy walked in with a finger blown off while handling a derringer.
I believe they ‘failed’ that class with flying colors(and Tissue).
Must have been sleeping or texting/playing Angry Birds during that critical part of the class where they speak of not touching that damn trigger until READY TO FIRE.
First thing established at any class I teach:
“If you are carrying, or have any ammunition, please remove it from the classroom now”
This guy left the room with a live weapon in the hands of students? Unreal.
The people running this class don't know what they are doing.
No kiddin'.
Step one should have been for the instructor to ensure that all students guns were unloaded and safe.
Ditto. I took the NRA handgun safety course. There was a big sign on the classroom door that read, "NO LOADED FIREARMS AND NO AMMUNITION OF ANY KIND ALLOWED IN CLASSROOM -- AND THIS MEANS YOU." We were also not allowed to use our own firearms during classroom instructors, rather we all used identical Ruger .22 Cal with dummy rounds provided by the instructor. Even when we moved to the range, we were not allowed to use our own firearms until we demonstrated proficiency with the firearms that the instructor provided us.
Keep your finger OFF the trigger unless you intend to fire your weapon. Its companion rule is guns are always loaded. Finally, never point your weapon at anything you’re not willing to destroy. He disobeyed all 3 rules w/ a predictable result. Sad, very sad....
Starke probably won’t be in the business any more. A hard lesson was learned. He is lucky the injuries were not more serious. Maybe he should have invested in some blue training weapons for the students to handle until they got acquainted with the ‘pointy end of the spear’. He should have also emphasized the four rules of gun safety.
Let me postulate a possible, but not necessarily true, scenario:
Perhaps the students were informed beforehand that their would be no live ammo in the class.
Perhaps this was the beginning of the class, before it really started, and the student couple suddenly remembers that they forgot to unload their gun before they got there.
Embarrassed by this, they wait until Stark is out of sight, then try to surreptitiously unload the pistol.
I am not saying that it happened that way, just that it could have happened that way.
Live ammo is forbidden in a NRA training class.
It does not say where and how it occurred. Did this happen at the range or in class?
I don’t know anyone who allows live rounds in classroom.
But how was idiot handling a real firearm before getting to the range?
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